Coinbase has achieved a milestone in the crypto industry by becoming the only full-service prime brokerage, offering a comprehensive suite of services including trading, custody, financing, derivatives, and cross-margining. According to John D'Agostino, head of strategy at Coinbase Institutional, the company's definition of a prime broker aligns with Wall Street's traditional checklist, with the added layer of staking in crypto. D'Agostino noted that only a handful of firms in equities and fixed income, such as Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, qualify as full-service primes, while smaller brokers piece together services.
In crypto, Coinbase is the only platform that natively offers all these services, with its flagship platform Coinbase Prime holding over $350 billion in assets under custody. The company has become a key bridge between traditional finance and crypto markets, operating under a growing regulatory framework.
With the rollout of cross-margining in March, Coinbase has completed its prime brokerage offering, allowing market makers and institutional traders to reduce capital requirements. The company's institutional platform processes roughly $236 billion in quarterly trading volume, supporting over 470 assets across 20-plus blockchains.
Beyond trading and custody, Coinbase has a $1 billion lending book and the industry's largest listed derivatives footprint. D'Agostino expects banks and incumbents to partner with Coinbase rather than build their own crypto platforms, at least in the near term.